Mechanical Engineering Career and salary

The PE license is a respected seal of competence and assurance of quality. This prestigious license shows that the engineer is at the top of the profession, both in competence and ethics. For consulting engineers and private practitioners, it is essential if not a legal requirement to be licensed. Only professional engineers can sign and seal engineering drawings or serve as qualified expert witnesses.

Moreover, professional engineers can earn higher incomes throughout their career, and the license expands the opportunities beyond the company organization, such as independent consulting.

Careers

A mechanical engineer can work in industries such as aerospace, automobile, combustion engines and fuels, fluid machinery, manufacturing and construction and building sciences. A postgraduate of mechanical engineering has a host of career opportunities in other fields, such as law, business and medicine. A lawyer with a mechanical engineering degree can have a very lucrative career in patent or products liability law.

Employment opportunities in management are more available for the mechanical engineer who has a master's degree in engineering or business administration. Additionally, mechanical engineers with a postgraduate degree in biomedical engineering might work for private medical companies or hospitals developing hip replacements, prosthetics, robotic surgical equipment or diagnostic and treatment equipment.

Salary

According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) in May, 2011, mechanical engineers earned an average annual income of $83,550.

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